Stow away

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Ceph was slightly distracted by Loki and her grape centered mischief, though he turned his focus back to the girl with a little effort.


Lapis paused and then thought back. She didn't quite understand 'death', so she was going to explain it the way her father did. "Daddy said she took a trip, but was called away up there." She pointed to the sky. "He said she's still with us, but I can't find where she's hiding."

When Andy spoke up, she turned to look at him. His tone made her shake slightly in her chair as he spoke about stolen children. Please don't make her go back!

Her eyes popped open in surprise when Grumpy twin-he seemed to be in charge-decided that she wasn't going back. Yay!~


Ceph watched his brother as the girl explained how she ran and hid on the ship, and he couldn't help but smile as he saw his brother's expression soften. His brother was a serious ass, but he wasn't as heartless and people made him out to be. "She is certainly made of sterner stuff, I'll give her that." He said. Thankfully it seemed that Andy wasn't going to cause much more drama in the whole 'kicking the girl off the ship' department, so it was safe to come out of hiding.

Speaking of hiding. "Lapis? I know you were scared of us, but you don't need to be anymore. Could you please return the things you've taken while you were hiding? We'll provide anything you need, so you don't need to worry about that."


Lapis averted her eyes, looking rather guilty. Well, she had been stealing from almost everyone on the crew since she got on the ship, even if it was because she was hiding. "Yes sir." She said quietly, looking at her knees.

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Loki wondered if anything of hers had gone missing. She hadn't noticed herself that anything had been taken from her room. If she had, Loki would have to give the kid points for slight of hand there. No Loki. You're not getting an apprentice, be quiet.

She shifted out from the doorframe, so she was properly in the kitchen now, rather than just lurking on the sidelines. The kid looked happy that she was allowed to stay, and not be returned back to Dula to go it alone. Good thing too. That'd be just cruel.

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<sub>Nerys' heart almost broke when she heard what Lapis said. Yeah, she knew what that meant, but she didn't say anything about it, and she hoped none of the others would try and translate Julian's speech for her. She'd take a deep breath and then look over.

"Alright. We can figure out what to do later." She murmured. Dani seemed pleased that Lapis will be staying after all, so she went to sit down next to the girl. Awww.</sub>

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<sub>Andy wouldn't say anything to Lapis. Right now he did want his items returned, and not only that, he wasn't really sure what to tell her. It sounded like her mother is dead, and he didn't know how to handle kids at all. Mostly because of his childhood that he was cheated out of.

"What my bro said. The girls can find you a place to sleep that isn't an engine room." He'd look over to Loki, who was still swindling grapes but there wasn't much he could do about that. There was too much on his mind.</sub>

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Lapis nodded silently as Grumpytwin agreed with his brother. She felt bad for stealing, but she was scared!

Ceph would turn and step out of the room, going back to the engine room to retrieve everything and have the others reclaim their belongings. As he was kneeling and gently bundling everything in the blankets, he came across the doll that Lapis had borrowed. Then he remembered, in one of the closets in his ship, there was a stuffed rabbit that a little girl had given him a few years back.

Tying the bundle and carefully bringing it upstairs, he'd set it in the hall and pay a quick visit to his own ship, grabbing the small box filled with little toys that fawning children had gifted him with over the years; mostly tops, a doll or two, the stuffed rabbit, and some wooden animals. There was even one more intricate clockwork toy that would play charades with you, Ceph had been reluctant to accept such a valuable toy, but the gifter refused to take it back.

He had kept them out of respect for those who gave them to him, but he saw no harm or insult in allowing the girl to make use of them. They were just gathering dust where they were!

moving the box's contents to a more secure medium of transport, he went back to the other ship and, grabbing the parcel, returned to the kitchen and sat the bundle on the table.

"That's everything from the kid's 'burrow'." He reported, looking to Lapis if she was still in the room. "Here, you can have these instead." He said, handing the box of toys to the girl, who immediately fell in love with the stuffed rabbit.

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Loki sat back, watching everyone flit back too and fro to accommodate the girl in front of her. She adjusted her collar, and slunk out of the kitchen, pulling out the key to her room and twiddling it in between her fingers as she walked down the ships corridor.

Something bothered her about the situation. How the childs story had been very similar to the one Andromeda had told her that evening up on the deck.
'Wouldn't it be best to return the girl to her father? What are the chances of this kids dad being still around in Dula...' She thought. Her heart ached. She would feel dearly for the girl, if that possibility emerged.

Loki walked to her door, unlocked it, stepped in to her room, unbuttoned her coat and hung it up on the hook on the wall. She stretched out her arms, and walked to her wardrobe, opening it, and peering in to the cabinet full of clothes, and on the shelves, various little bits, peices and trophies from her long stretches of theivery.

Loki pulled out a couple of shirts that had become too small for her. They may have been a loose fit, but they could be a spare change of clothes for their new travelling companion.

She spread the clothes out on the bed. Loki's assumptions were probably correct. Some were going to be large, but with a little help from Nerys' mad sewing skills, they could be altered.

Loki tapped her chin, picked up the clothes one by one, and folded them, before taking them back to the kitchen, and put them on the table, as Cepheid presented a box of toys to the child.

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<sub>Andromeda slipped out of the room. Okay, so his assumptions on the girl had been correct. She was taken from her family, just like him, just like Sine and every other kid he knew from his childhood. It made him wonder how Crash, Greg, or even Angel were doing.

Andy looked over to see Loki slipped into her room Loki you'd better not be pregnant, but he didn't bother her for now. He'd collect his trinkets, including a piece of jewelry that he had gotten for a certain someone.

Dani stayed where she was, watching as Cepheid came back with some toys that Lapis seemed to be in love with now. Dani giggled, ruffling the girl's hair.

Andy would put his items up and then hover around the doorway again, near Loki. After all, Andy seemed to flock towards parentless children.</sub>

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<sub>Godwine and Selena had finished lunch and decided to leave the crowded kitchen, so that the others would have their space. For now, Nerys would collect her own items, including her favorite teddy bear that she had since she was just a young child, on top of her ribbons. She'd also collect Dani's back strap that was somehow taken, dropping it off in her room.

"... We should find the kid's parents, if she has any, right?" She asked Andy and Cepheid. After all, the girl's parents must be upset. Unfortunately she didn't know if Andy and Cepheid would even follow with that considering both of them were kidnapped from their parents as well and they did nothing.

Then again, everybody on this ship had parent troubles in one way or another.</sub>

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Due to her young age, all Lapis knew about her father was his name, the fact he worked with jewelry, and that he lived in Seria. She couldn't even remember that city she lived in! She used to know, but as the weeks passed away from home, she had slowly forgotten the name of the city.

Lapis inspected the other toys, the rabbit tucked safely under her arm as she turned the Clockwork over in her hands.

---

"Naturally. She said she was forcefully taken from her father, it's more than likely that he'd want her back." Cepheid said. As far as Andy knew, he and his brother were also stolen from their parents. Cepheid didn't think it'd be a good thing for Andy to ever learn the truth. "We should find out as much about her and her father as we can."

Cepheid turned and looked at Lapis who, while looking like she could seriously use a bath, seemed quite content at the moment.

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Loki nodded in agreement to Cepheids suggestion of researching more about the girl and her father. However, maybe it would take a while to build up the girls trust enough for her to freely talk about it.

She glanced at Andromeda who had taken her place in the doorway.

"We should probably keep her out of sight if we do end up going to Seria then... just in case, on the off chance of course, that whoever she's been hiding from is still looking for her." She spoke up. Even if it was possible the child had been bunking with them longer than they expected, it was still a good Idea to keep their eye out for trouble.

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<sub>Andy observed the little girl as she stared playing with the dolls that Cepheid gave her. Hm, well there wasn't much for him to deal with her. After all, the girls could take care of her. He's dealt with enough kids at a younger age. He looked over as Cepheid and Loki spoke up, agreeing with each other about it.

"Good idea." He spoke up and then his lip curled when Loki mentioned those idiot Dulans. "You have a very good point. They'll probably do everything on their power to get her back. Dulans have a creepy love for their kids."

Dani noticed the girl did need a bath, plus her clothes needed washing. Maybe Nerys could fix them for her as well. She'd look over to the dark haired woman.

"Do you think you can fix her dress?"</sub>

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<sub>So they were going to try and find the father and mother of this child. Well, at least the father. Nerys just stayed in the back, quietly watching everyone as they went in a discussion about the whole thing. Dani seemed concerned about the girl and her cleanliness though and asked her a question.

"Oh yes I can." She nodded. "I can restitch whatever it is she needs stitched up."</sub>

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Cepheid listened as Loki and Andy spoke about Lapis's captors. "Actually, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure this was just a normal slave ring. They probably have a kid get loose every now and then." He said. "More than likely, they just picked up and moved in case she pointed authorities towards them, and grabbed another random kid off the street to replace her."

He glanced over to Andy. If she had been part of the Boarding School, it'd be a different story, but this didn't seem to be the case.

---

Lapis very much needed a bath, and would likely not object to one. And a clean dress. In them meantime, she continued to go over the contents of the box gifted to her as the adults talked about boring adult things.